Hamburg police sergeant resigns

HAMBURG — Hamburg Police Department Sergeant Chris Nichols was sworn into the Maywood Borough Police Department on Tuesday night and followed with a letter of resignation to Hamburg on Wednesday morning.

The move to Bergen County will leave the department without any commanding officers as Sgt. Dave McNulty is on extended medical leave.

Nichols says he is confident the move will best serve his families future.

“Further,” he writes in his resignation letter, “I have profound concerns for the future of the department, specifically with the high turnover rate and low staffing level.”

Nichols is the next in a long line of officers leaving the Hamburg Police Department, including Officer Andrew Chase, who left for Chatham Borough in 2010, Officer Tim Maglio, who left for East Hanover in 2011, Sgt. Erik Aronson, who was the first to go to Maywood in 2012, Officer Robert Vander Ploeg, who went to Franklin last year, and Officer Daniel Farrugio, who resigned last year and has filed a lawsuit against the borough.

“Sometimes people leave,” Hamburg Mayor Paul Marino said after last year’s resignations. “Maybe they offered him more money.” Marino believes Hamburg to be one of the lowest paying police departments in the county, but as a small town, he said, “we have to keep the costs down.”

Nichols would have made $85,000 in Hamburg this year. His salary in Maywood is unknown, but Aronson went to Maywood in 2012, his probationary salary was $46,000.

Marino also said that it is human nature to try and better one’s position.

The move drops the active roster of Hamburg’s police department to five sworn officers.